United States Capitol Shooting Incident (1954) - Trial and Imprisonment

Trial and Imprisonment

Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda and the other Nationalists were charged with attempted murder and other crimes. The trial began on June 4, 1954, with federal Judge Alexander Holtzoff presiding over the case, under strict security measures. A jury composed of seven men and five women was assembled, their identities were kept secret by the media. The prosecution was led by Leo A. Rover, as part of this process 33 witnesses testified.

Ruth Mary Reynolds and the organization which she founded - the American League for Puerto Rico's Indepen­dence - secured lawyers for Lolita Lebrón and the other three Nationalists. The only defense witnesses were the Nationalists themselves. In her own testimony, Lebrón reaffirmed that she came "to die for the liberty of her homeland."

On June 16, 1954, the jury declared the four guilty. The prosecutor demanded the death penalty but, instead, Judge Holtzoff decided on 70 years imprisonment. Given the age of the Nationalists, this meant imprisonment for life.

Ruth Reynolds' American League lawyers appealed this harsh sentence. On July 13, 1954, the Nationalists were taken to New York, where they appeared before federal Judge Lawrence E. Walsh of the Second Circuit of Appeals. They declared themselves not guilty on the charge of "trying to overthrow the government of the United States," but remained firm in demanding that the U.S. get out of Puerto Rico. Amongst the prosecution's witnesses was Gonzalo Lebrón Jr., who testified against his own sister.

On October 26, 1954, Judge Walsh found all of the Nationalists "guilty" of conspiracy, and sentenced them to six additional years in prison, for a total of 76 years each. Cancel Miranda, considered to be the primary shooter, received a prison sentence of 85 years.

The four Nationalists were shipped off to different prisons. Figueroa Cordero was sent to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta; Lebrón to the women's prison in Alderson, West Virginia; and Flores Rodriguez to Leavenworth, Kansas, where Oscar Collazo, who in 1950 attacked the Blair House in a failed attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman, was incarcerated. Cancel Miranda was sent to Alcatraz, in the San Francisco Bay.